Upshot
by devinemischief
Summary: She had started this thing with Chuck out of a warped desire for revenge. She hadn't expected to fall in love.   AU Season One. B/C
1. Chapter 1

Upshot

_She had started this thing with Chuck out of a warped desire for revenge. She hadn't expected to fall in love._

1.

Blair loved the bustle of the city; Manhattan had spoiled her, in more ways than one. But sweating it out on the streets of New York could try the patience of even the most seasoned upper-east 'sider. 90 degree heat and incompetent shop assistants had left her frazzled and agitated all day. Not only had she been unable to find a dress for the benefit on the 8th, the idiots at Starbucks had screwed up her coffee order. Twice. How hard was it to provide competent service? However, a double shot non-fat iced vanilla latte, a biscotti, and a classic, well fitted, season-appropriate gown was apparently an ask too high for the throng of college drop outs and single mothers manning the tills that afternoon. Blair had a theory that once summer rolled around, anyone with an ounce of intellect abandoned the city for the peace and quiet of the Hamptons, leaving the running of stores to inept plebs from the outer boroughs.

To top it all, Nate's cell had continually gone to voicemail all day. She hadn't heard from him in almost a week, and she was starting to wonder if he was avoiding her. He'd been distant for a while, but now that school was over, he had apparently abandoned all pretence of maintaining a functioning relationship with her. In moments of weakness and quiet desperation, she even considered calling Chuck Bass and begging for information. But that was too pathetic- her pride balked at the thought of Chuck's derision, and the sting of humiliation that would undoubtedly follow. No, she was resigned to suffer in silence. It was at times like these, though, that she found herself missing Serena the most.

Her phone chirped in her hand, breaking her from her thoughts. She fumbled in her haste to answer, failing to check the caller ID.

"_Nate_?" Even to her ears, her voice sounded embarrassingly breathy.

"Not even close. Catch you at a bad time, did I Waldorf? Engaging in some _extracurricular_ _activities_?" Blair flushed deeply.

"Urgh. You're heinous. I'm hanging up."

"Hang on a minute. I need to talk to you." Taking a deep breath, Blair steeled herself from the coming conversation.

"Make it quick. I'm busy."

"_I'm_ _sure_." Blair scoffed, shifting her few shopping bags into her left hand uncomfortably.

"Was there actually a point to this conversation, Bass, or did you call for the sole purpose of sexually harassing me?" She could hear his amusement down the line.

"Whilst that idea undoubtedly holds merit, I was actually hoping to have a word with you. In person. Come over to the suite."

"Um, no thank you."

"It's important." Blair sighed with irritation. Sometimes she wondered why she even tolerated him.

"Can't you just tell me now?"

"I'd rather not." Blair considered his words.

"Well, I'm not meeting you at the Palace. You can come to my Mother's. I'll be there in about fifteen minutes."

"Where are you? I'll pick you up." She was tempted to ignore his demands, but she didn't much fancy walking any further in the heat, so relented.

"Fifty-ninth and Lexington."

"Planning on taking the Subway?" His tone was appallingly derisive.

"I was at _Bloomingdales_."

"Yes, of course you were. I'll be there in five." The line went dead and Blair was left to silently fume.


	2. Chapter 2

2.

The limo ride was predictably awkward- with his knowing gaze and steady stream of sexual innuendo, Chuck never failed to provoke her. She sat pressed uncomfortably against the window, watching him drink down mouthfuls scotch with distaste.

"You do realise it's barely noon."

"It's almost 2." Blair sniffed. Like that justified anything at all.

"Do you really need to-?"

"If I wanted a lecture, I'd actually consider spending time with my Father."She folded her arms defensively against his scorn.

"Fine."

"_Fine_."

The silence was deafening, and starting to grate on her besides.

"Didn't you have something you wanted to tell me? Or are you set on building _dramatic tension_?" His answering smirk made her squirm.

"Always happy to prolong a climax, Blair." She had no fitting comeback, and so settled for haughty dismissal.

"Whatever scandalous bombshell you're about to drop had better be worth it, Bass." He tensed a little, but nodded once all the same.

"Isn't it always?"

She couldn't argue with him there. Chuck Bass was capable of many things- blackmail, extortion, manipulation- but scandal was by far his forte. If Chuck wasn't at the heart of a controversy, he was almost certainly the one spreading the ensuing gossip.

Chuck finally put his glass aside after a few final gulps, and met her gaze squarely. When he spoke, his tone was deceptively conversational.

"Nathanial and Serena had sex."

Blair blinked, reeling.

"Excuse me?"

"You heard. Nate. Serena. At the Sheppard Wedding. I saw them." Blair couldn't breathe. She put her hand self consciously to her throat, a strange sort of panic rising up in her, and noted how uncomfortably quickly her heart was racing.

"I- I don't... What? Why are you... why are you telling me this?" She swallowed deeply and looked away from him, out onto the street. The cars on the road had blurred together into one large, cloudy approximation of colour and shape.

"I assumed you'd be interested to hear that beloved-Serena and golden-boy- Nathanial had relieved each other of their virginity in a drunken, very public fumble." Blair closed her eyes as she absorbed his words. She couldn't bear it.

"You're lying." Her voice was hoarse and clogged with tears, and her denial fell flat. Of course he was telling the truth. Somewhere deep down, she thought she had always known. However, it was one thing to _know_. It was quite another to hear in vivid detail the extent of the betrayal. "I _hate_ _you _for this." She sounded meek and small and felt properly humiliated.

"That may be a little misplaced." Her head snapped back around to meet his gaze, and she felt the sadness wash away, replaced by a steady swell of hatred. Why did it have to be him, of all people, to tell her this?

"Don't try to pretend you're not getting some twisted pleasure out of this. You never do anything unless it serves to your advantage."Her voice was still brittle, but she sounded stronger, now that she was fuming. He raised his hands defensively, a grin playing at the edge of his mouth.

"Don't shoot the messenger, Waldorf. I was doing you a favour."

"Some favour."

"Would you have preferred to be left in the dark, moping about after Nate like some prepubescent teenybopper with a broken heart? It was embarrassing." Her anger had fizzled out almost as quickly as it had struck her, and she could feel tears threatening again. Choking them back, she settled on getting as far away from that _mother-chucker_ as she possibly could.

"Stop the car. I'm not spending another _second_ with you." She knocked on the roof with the flat of her hand. "Stop!" The driver pulled over obediently.

"Blair, don't be ridiculous." He caught her by the wrist and she struggled ineffectually against his strangle hold.

"You son of a _bitch_." Her nails bit into his palm and he yelped in an emasculating sort of way.

"_Stop_ it!" The limo door sprung open and Blair wrenched her arm from his grasp with a single-minded determination, scrambling inelegantly toward the sanctuary of the curb.

"Quit making such a god-damn scene and back in the car."

"I'd rather _die_." The Melodrama of that statement was oddly comforting. She stalked away from the limo, half expecting him to chase her. He didn't.

"For _fuck's sake_, Waldorf!" She cringed as he bellowed at her from the back seat of the car, but ignored him pointedly, hefting her shopping bags a little higher on her shoulder. She was no more than two blocks from her mother's penthouse and she was resolved to get there before she allowed herself to cry.

At least she knew now why Serena had disappeared, and why Nate had been so decidedly absent from her life recently. Not that the truth was all that comforting. Her best friend had had _sex_ with her boyfriend. The happy little bubble that had been her life had now been unceremoniously burst by the man-whore of Manhattan, and all she wanted was to lock herself away in her 5th avenue apartment until this nightmare was _over_ and forgotten.

She'd barely made it inside the elevator before the tears came.


End file.
